The People of Camelot
by hideyseek
Summary: A six-part saga of the adventures of the citizens of Camelot. Part One: Arthur starts a diary.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Merlin belongs to BBC. The idea of Arthur's Diary comes from The Very Pink Diary of George Weasley by sangkar.**

The People of Camelot

Chapter One: Dear Not-Diary, This is the King

25th December, 1197

Dear Not-diary,

I don't care what Merlin calls you. This. It. Whatever. I'm not a girl. Therefore the book where I may or may not write my thoughts is a journal not a diary. Whatever the knights say is not true. At all. Not even a little.

Officially, this is the worst Christmas present I've ever had. Unofficially, maybe my handwriting will improve and Father will stop yelling and comparing my handwriting to Morgana's when she was seven. Maybe.

This is stupid. I don't even know why I'm listening to the idiot. 'Write down your feelings in it, Arthur. It'll grow on you.' Really. This is stupid. This is stupid. This is stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Now my whole arm hurts. Damn Merlin and his stupid happy-smiling cheerfulness. If Leon laughs again I will personally drag him to the stocks and then throw a tomato in his face. Or two. Or three. Now, that isn't such a bad idea. Wonder if Merlin's done anything bad recently...

Oh well, I'll make something up. He can't be perfect ALL the time.

Out for revenge,  
Crown Prince Arthur Pendragon of Camelot

.o0o.

In Gaius' chambers, bent over a bowl of snowmelt water, Merlin read the contents of Arthur's diary over the prince's shoulder and laughed. Then he turned and ran for his life.

 **Author's Note: What do you think? If anybody has ideas for a one-shot they'd like to see appear, I'll take requests. Bear in mind, it may be several weeks before they actually appear. You can't say I didn't warn you.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I wanted to try something different, so here's the next chapter- dialogue only. You'll have to figure out who's talking. If you can figure out who's talking and tell me in a review, I'll give you…something. Like virtual cookies. Yeah. Enjoy!**

The People of Camelot

Chapter Two: Background Conversations

"Ready, set go!"

"Prat!"

"Hey, who said you could go first, Merlin?"

"That's not an insult, Arthur."

"Dollophead!"

"That's right, Merlin! You tell him!"

"Nine minutes, Arthur. Merlin's got two on you."

"Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock-"

"Shut up, Eylan. I can't hear. If I wasn't your sister I'd suggest tying you up with Merlin's neckerchief!"

"Idiot!"

"And Arthur scores one point against his opponent, but Merlin is still in the lea-"

"Keep out of this Gwaine, or I'll throw you in the stocks!"

"Arthur, you're threatening Merlin, not the audience."

"Um, bloat-bellied lout?"

"If you're asking me, Merlin, that's a no."

"You can't say that, Arthur."

"Actually, he can."

"Can not."

"Can too."

"Can not."

"Can too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Seven and a half minutes!"

"Really, Lancelot?"

"I'm choosing not to answer that."

"Not."

"Too."

"Notnotnotnot!"

"Tootootoo-"

"Shut your mouths in the peanut gallery!"

"Peanut-brained paddlewheel in a pancake!"

"Where'd you get that Arthur? A kitchen?"

"I bet he did."

"Be quiet, Gwaine!

"Wow, I didn't know Percival could yell like that. Did you?"

"Nope."

"QUIET!"

"Ooh. Shutting up now."

"Six minutes!"

"Clotpole!"

"Daisy!"

"Daisy? Whatever."

"Shut up, Gwaine."

"Hehe."

"Run out of insults, MERlin? Don't be-"

"Sheep-skinned barrel-bottomed liver-lunged toad!"

"Very creative, Merlin! Twenty points!"

"They only count for one each, Gaius."

"Ah, I see. Never mind. That doesn't have quite the same ring to it."

"No, it doesn't..."

"He looks inspired, Arthur does."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Run for your lives!"

"Isn't it treason to imply that about your prince?"

"Too bad for, um, me..."

"Laaaaaame, Gwaine."

"Hey!"

"Merlin, you're such a girl!"

"Hey! How's that insulting? Sexist pig!"

"Go Gwen! Woot woot!"

"Two minutes, guys."

"Um. Go Arthur! And um, go Merlin!"

"You're cheering is even lamer than mine, Leon."

"And that means a lot, coming from Gwaine."

"Hey!"

"Shoe-sucking purple-tongued poison-producing witch!"

"Does accuracy count? Because that's contradictory."

"Good point, Percival."

"How can Merlin be a witch if he's male?"

"Are you sure he's male?"

"Really, Gwaine!"

"Er, Lancelot, does royalty count as an insult?"

"No, Uther's right across the courtyard."

"He didn't ask you, Leon."

"He got my opinion anyway."

"Pulling a Merlin, eh, Leon?"

"Perhaps."

"What's that mean?"

"Ooh! Leon, you scored a point!"

"So I did."

"Sixty seconds."

"Aaaand the two contestants are turning up blank-"

"No commentary from you Gwaine, Lancelot's got that covered."

"Thirty seconds!"

"How are we supposed to think of insults if you're talking?"

"Twenty seconds!"

"Numbskull!"

"Point to Merlin! Merlin is in the lead!"

"Think of something fast, Arthur or you'll lose."

"Damn."

"Ooh, bad language."

"Aaand...time!"

"The winner is Merlin!"

"Enthusiastic applause."

"You could clap instead of saying so, Arthur. It's GOOD SPORTSMANSHIP."

"I don't mind."

"You won, Merlin. Of course you don't."

"Don't try to be patronizing, Gwaine. It doesn't suit you."

"Because it suits you better, Lancelot?"

"He's better at it than you are."

"See, Merlin's on my side."

"Because he LOVES Lancelot more than Arthur."

"I do? Look! Arthur's going red!"

"Oh, shut up, Merlin. And wipe that ridiculous grin off your face."

"It's against the law for me to be happy I beat the crown prince in an insult contest?"

"Yes, it is."

 **Author's Note: Hope that wasn't too long and boring, ha-ha. What do you think? Can you say so in a single word?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Here's the next installation of The People of Camelot and my first attempt in trying my hand at drabbles. Not sure what I mean with this one. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, who belongs to BBC. So does Arthur.**

The People of Camelot

A Merlin Fanfiction

Chapter Three: Lightning

The night sky is cleaved in two by a sudden flash of brightness. Looking out at the courtyard, Arthur can see Merlin standing out by the pine tree, face upturned to the rain, arms up and out like he's embracing the lightning. Arthur shifts slightly in his chair, rubbing together cold fingers in the pocket of his trousers. He's never figured out how Merlin can stand out there for hours without catching cold. But now, looking out at that raw power from the sky, he thinks he might just understand. Power is addicting, even to the least ambitious of people.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: I just watched S209, The Lady of the Lake. Does Freya ever actually become the Lady of the Lake? I wasn't sure, but this wanted to be written. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin, Arthur, or Merlin's memories of Freya. Those belong to BBC and Merlin, respectively. Actually, if you want to be technical, ('technically, Merlin's memories belong to Merlin, who belongs to BBC, so his memories belong to BBC too') they all belong to BBC.**

The People of Camelot

A Merlin Fanfiction

Chapter Four: Waves in the Lake

"Come on," calls Arthur, waving from the edge of the lake. "It's wonderful!" He's soaking, water dripping off the end of his nose to plop wetly onto the dusty earth. "Merlin!" he shouts again. From his perch on the safely dry shores, Merlin can see Arthur waving his arms, and is pretty sure he knows what the prince is saying. What he doesn't know is how to explain that Arthur is standing on a graveyard; that he will not enter the waters of Avalon in respect for Freya. Because, even though she's dead and gone, it still hurts too much.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: So my friends were talking about Merlin (read: I was comparing them to various characters, and I decided one of my friends was Arthur, so another of my friends is all "Oh, then you must like cats." Then the first friend says, "Explain why me being 'Arthur' means I have to like cats? Can't I like dogs?" And so dog-loving-Arthur was created. Enjoy!**

The People of Camelot

A Merlin Fanfiction

Chapter Five: Whiskers

"Why are you carrying around a blanket?" asks Arthur when Merlin passes him in the corridor. "You look like Morgana when she was three."

Merlin blinks at him, and shifts the cat in his arms. "What blanket? This is a cat." He holds it out to Arthur.

The cat glares. Arthur glares back.

"See?" asks Merlin blithely, "he likes you."

The cat hisses and swipes at Arthur's nose. Merlin backs up, adding hastily, "Maybe not."

No," mutters Arthur, pressing his sleeve over the cut on his nose, "I don't think so."

Arthur gives the cat a Look. The cat smirks.


	6. Chapter 6

The People of Camelot

A Merlin Fanfiction

Chapter Six: Better Late Than Never

Merlin finally meets Gwen's second father a week after the blacksmith is put to death, while he's running errands for Gaius.

"Good to meet you, sir," says Merlin, shaking the man's hand. Gwen beams.

The man laughs, "Don't call me sir. I'm the soul unfortunate enough to be named Adam Adamson. Call me Adam, please."

"Er," says Merlin, shifting all of Geofferey's-books-that-were-currently-Gaius'-books over to his left arm, "I'm Merlin Emrys, call me…" he adjusts the books by bumping them with his knee, "anything really, but usually I go by just Merlin."

Tom laughs. "Alright then, Just Merlin. Have a good day."


End file.
